The Franklin Flyer

Mark Your Calendars:

September 11: PTA - First Pizza Monday

September 12: PTA - Room Parent Sign Up @ 9:30 AM

September 18: Picture Day

September 21: Fall Conference Sign-Up Opens for Parents @ 4:00 pm

September 28: PTA - Back to School Bash 5-7 PM @ Franklin

September 30: Judi McCarthy 5K Memorial Run/Walk 9 AM @ Franklin

October 2: PTA - Room Parent Kick-Off Meeting

October 9: No School

October 17: Fall Conference @ 4-8 pm

October 23: Picture Day Retake

October 24: Fall Conference @ 4-8 pm

October 26: Fall Conference @ 4-8 pm

October 31: Halloween Parties

November 20 - 24: Fall Break - No School

Absences

Please remember to call in or email absences by 8:45 AM. You can call our student absence line (847) 318-4390 (ext 1) is available 24 hours a day, or email Mrs. Linda at lberleth@d64.org.

If the absence is illness related, please also make sure to include Franklin's nurse, Mrs. Queta Karstens, at qkarstens@d64.org.

Franklin Office Hours
School office hours are from 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday.

School Hours

School Hours (M, T, Th, F): 8:50 am - 3:30 pm

Wednesday School Hours: 8:50 am - 2:40 pm

Half-Day Kindergarten Hours

Kindergarten Hours (M, T, Th, F): 8:50 am - 11:35 am

Kindergarten Wednesday: 8:50 am - 11:05 am

You can find frequent updates or snapshots from our days at Franklin on Facebook and Instagram! Follow us at

Facebook: facebook.com/FranklinD64

Instagram: franklin.d64

We are so proud of our students for successfully completing Safety Week. We have concluded our severe weather (tornado) drill, bus evaluation, fire drill, and lockdown drill. Each of our severe weather, fire, and lockdown drills took about 5 minutes. The fire department observed our fire drill and the police department observed our lockdown drill. These drills are discussed in the classroom in age-appropriate conversations that we have safety week and practice to help keep us all safe in an emergency.

Please take a moment to review the contacts section of your ParentPortal. Any adult who has approval for after school pick-up or emergency pick-up for illness/injury should be listed. Franklin staff will not release students to adults who are not listed on the ParentPortal.

All billing or tuition questions can be answered by the District 64 Business Department. The Business Department can be reached at:

District 64 Office

847-318-4300

8200 Greendale Ave,

Niles Il 60714

Picture Day

Franklin's Picture Day is September 18th. Information on ordering school pictures from Color Portraits can be found below. If you have any further questions please contact Claire at claire@colorportraits.com

We are preparing and looking forward to meeting with you during Parent-Teacher Conferences. Conference dates and times are as follows:

October 17th, 24th, 26th - 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Parent-Teacher Conferences will focus on reviewing your child's current progress, performance, and learning goals for the school year.

To sign up for a conference, you can use the directions linked here. Conference sign up will go live on September 21st at 4:00 pm. An email reminder will be sent to our community on September 20th.

We hope you take advantage of this opportunity to meet with your child's teacher in October. Your involvement in your child's education is very important, and we appreciate your partnership.

Chromebooks

As a reminder, each Franklin student will be issued an iPad (grades K-1) or a Chromebook computer (grades 2-5) as part of the District’s one-to-one digital learning program. Students will receive their devices during the first week of school. Your child will also be assigned a Google account to access Google Apps for Education and other digital resources at school and to explore further concepts introduced in class at home. The devices and their applications are technology tools that provide all students access to digital content and higher levels of individualized instruction.

You can find more information about the 1:1 Initiative, Chromebooks, and the other technologies available to our students here.

Drop-off of Student Items/Lunches

If your student forgets something at home, an adult may drop off items at the Franklin front office. Our front office staff will message the classroom for your student to pick up these items during a break in student instruction. The teacher will send the student to the office when it works best in the classroom schedule.

Visiting Franklin

All visitors to Franklin must have a valid state ID or driver’s license. Identification is entered into the Raptor identification system. This process only takes a short time to complete. Once you have clearance, the office staff will print a visitor pass for you and attach it to a lanyard you must wear throughout the building. The office will hold your ID until you return to the office and return the lanyard. We appreciate your support as we proceed with this district-mandated safety procedure for the safety of our students.

Student-Parent Handbook
Franklin Elementary School and all District 64 schools follow policies and practices reviewed and implemented by the District 64 Board of Education. Please review the D64 Student-Parent Handbook before the start of the school year.

From Your PTA

Have you joined the PTA Facebook group? It’s a great way to stay informed on upcoming events, connect with other families and quickly reach members of the PTA team and event chairs with questions. This is a private group for Franklin PTA members so if you haven’t signed up yet, membership registration is open at franklin store.membershiptoolkit.com. You can also access our toolkit on your mobile device by downloading the Membership Toolkit App. If you have any questions about membership or any of our updates, please reach out to us at info@franklinpta.com.

There are still a few opportunities to chair events & programs. Volunteering is a great way to meet other parents and families! Sign up on Membership Toolkit.

• Book Fair | Fall Conference Dates (October 17, 24, 26) - Coordinate with our librarian and organize volunteers to work the cash register.

• Trunk or Treat | Saturday, October 28 - Organize one of our favorite annual events where our Franklin families get to show off their costumes and “trick or treat” together.

Say Cheese!

We want your back-to-school pictures in the yearbook! The deadline to submit photos is Friday, September 8. There are a few ways to submit photos:

1. TreeRing App: Download the app and log in to your existing account or set up a new one. Then scroll down to Share Photos in the middle of the page and add pictures in the "Back to School" folder.

2. TreeRing website: Click on this link to be taken directly to the “Back to School” folder.

3. Email: Send your photos to notification.photos.298362828@treeringphotos.com, just attach the photos you want to include.

And it’s never too early to order your yearbook, you can cross something off your list AND get a 10% discount if you order by October 31. (If you get prompted for a passcode, use 101411067007226)

Please reach out to franklinyearbook@gmail.com with questions.

Families have the option of buying 2023-24 Franklin “Finding Joy in the Journey” t-shirts for $7 through the PTA Membership Toolkit. The PTA welcomes our newest Kindergarten class by paying for a shirt for every Kindergarten student. Grade-level t-shirt orders close today Sep. 8 at 9 PM after which no other orders can be accepted.

Pizza Mondays are back

Don’t forget - you don’t have to make lunch on Monday! September 11th is the first date for Block 1. Students who are participating in Pizza Mondays will be served pizza as they enter their lunch area. We do recommend sending 1-2 sides and a drink with your child on Pizza Mondays. Questions can be directed to info@franklinpta.com.

Room parent sign-ups open Tuesday, September 12

Each homeroom will have six room parent roles - two Head Room Parents and four Party Support Parents and you can sign up on PTA Membership Toolkit.

• Head Room Parents organize and are present for the class Halloween and Valentine’s Day parties, and also purchase homeroom teachers’ gifts with funds collected from the class families through the PTA Toolkit. The two Head Room Parent Coordinators hold the roles for the entire school year.

• Party Support Parents coordinate with the Head Room Parents on party activities, crafts and games needed for the Halloween and Valentine’s Day parties. Party Support Parents also attend the class party they signed up for. There will be two Halloween Party Support Parent roles, and two Valentine’s Day Party Support Parent roles (4 parents total present at each party).

There will also be a meeting on Monday, October 2 to provide more details and guidance for the whole group.

Back to School Bash

The PTA invites all Franklin students and families to celebrate the 2023-24 school year with our annual Back to School Bash on Thursday, Sep. 28, 5-7 PM. The event will take place in Franklin’s staff parking lot and will include music, an inflatable, food and fun. We are also looking for volunteers to help make the event a blast for the kids. Please visit the PTA Membership Toolkit to sign up for open roles.

Register or volunteer for the Judi McCarthy 5K Memorial Run/Walk on September 30

Registration is open for our inaugural 5K at Franklin in honor of a dedicated former Franklin teacher, Judi McCarthy. Franklin students and family members who want to participate in the 5K can register in the PTA Membership Toolkit for $10 per person. Your $10 fee includes a shirt and water and light snacks will be served at the end of the event.

The PTA would like to thank our event sponsors Jewel-Osco and Pan's Mushroom Jerky for their generous support of the Judi McCarthy 5K Run/Walk! Any others who are interested in sponsoring this or another PTA event can reach out to vp@franklinpta.com.